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May 28, 2010

Massarotti Questioning Ellsbury's Desire To Play

really tender. He's been examined, we've looked at the pictures, all the medical people are trying to look at everything. We've got to get to the bottom of this; we're not at the bottom of it.

Ellsbury was scheduled to see another specialist today. Peter Abraham writes that Ellsbury

seems to have gotten worse in the last 36 hours.

It might be time to put him on the shelf again. Terrry Francona has made it very clear that the team is putting the onus on Ellsbury to decide when he's ready.

Globe colleague Tony Massarotti wonders whether Ellsbury wants to play and how much of this is being directed by agent Scott Boras. Those are legitimate questions.

That last point is debatable. What is not in question is whether Mazz's column is a steamy pile of poo.

Two months into the regular season, Jacoby Ellsbury has played in nine games. Ellsbury says he is hurting. The Red Sox seem to wonder. And there is an indisputable disconnect between the team and its flashy center fielder.

Just wondering: ... Is it Ellsbury – or DLsbury?

In case you missed it – and many did – here's what Ellsbury told Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com following Wednesday's game against Tampa Bay, yet another affair in which Ellsbury was absent from the lineup.

"I think they downplay it because they misdiagnosed it," Ellsbury said of the rib injury that has kept him out for the large majority of this season. "They said you treat it all the same way. Remember that comment? How do you treat a bruise the same as a break?"

According to the Globe's Nick Cafardo this morning, sources in the Red Sox organization contend that Ellsbury now regrets making that remark. Regardless, Ellsbury has not disputed actually making them, offering an unfiltered glimpse into his soul and into the wedge currently driven between him and the team.

Massarotti wants us to know that he does not dispute the fact that Ellsbury has "bruised ribs or hairline fractures". No! Not at all.

He's just sayin'

-- that in 2008, Ellsbury's rookie season, he "missed small chunks of time with various assorted ailments"

and

-- that in the minors, he was supposedly a player who "required a great deal of, well, maintenance"

and

-- there are people, including some people in Red Sox management, who "believe that Boras discourages his players from taking the field at something less than 100 percent because it would affect their performance on the field and, therefore, leverage in negotiations"

What about Ellsbury's statement that he expects to deal with some discomfort in his ribs for the rest of this season? Massarotti says that is "an alibi if he plays poorly".

The bullshit column ends with a question: "Does he want to play or doesn't he?"

Theo Epstein is on record (many times) as saying he would rather players stay off the field and get completely healthy rather than come back too early and risk further injury and additional missed time.

It did seem odd that the Sox were first thinking that Ellsbury would miss only a day or three, then a week, then the disabled list. But that isn't what Mazz is focusing on.

Is trying to transform Ellsbury into "Drew Jr." the mediots' latest project?

"It took me two months after cracking three ribs just to able to move around without any major discomfort, and to sleep without propping my torso longitudinally at a 45-degree angle with extra pillows under my left side from head to toe. It was three months before I was completely pain free -- and I wasn't swinging a bat, throwing a ball, or chasing down flies.I have no doubt whatsoever that his ribs haven't fully healed yet -- and I'm not just talking about the bones themselves, but also the surrounding cartillage and tissue. Unlike a broken limb, which bears no weight load and is kept immobilized as it heals, the rib cage expands and contracts with every breath. It's constantly moving. So anyone on the Sox who doubts his pain is legit is talking out of their ass.However, I agree with others here that Jacoby needed to deflect the issue as "just one of those things, I might have aggravated it, hopefully I can get it figured out and get back on the field ASAP" rather than cast blame on team officials regardless of what he thinks of their diagnosis and treatment."

If Mazz does have some info that would back this up, he's got to do a better job of presenting it. If he thinks this as a serious possibility, he's got to have the guts to put it out there. Right now, he's only lazily repeating off-hand rumours or making shit up.

im starting to lose respect for ellsbury....hes a good player n all but hes kinda a pretty boy....trade him for a fifth starter.....ellsbury and casey kelley (who doesnt impress me much at all and is overrated) for roy oswalt and michael bourne....i would do that in a heartbeat....who else would do that if u were theo epstein?